Hate Crime in Rosedale McDonald's Condemned

The April 18th attack has been widely condemned. Here's the start of the April 23, 2011 Baltimore Sun article:

A transgender woman beaten at a Baltimore County McDonald's spoke out on Saturday, saying that the attack was "definitely a hate crime" and that she's been afraid to go out in public ever since. "They said, 'That's a dude, that's a dude and she's in the female bathroom,' " said Chrissy Lee Polis, 22, who said she stopped at the Rosedale restaurant to use the restroom. "They spit in my face." A worker at the restaurant taped Monday's attack and created a graphic video that went viral last week. After the video garnered hundreds of thousands of views on websites, McDonald's issued a statement condemning the incident, and on Saturday the worker who taped the incident was fired. The video shows two females — one of them a 14-year-old girl — repeatedly kicking and punching Polis in the head as an employee and a patron try to intervene. Others can be heard laughing, and men are seen standing idly by. Toward the end of the video, one of the suspects lands a punishing blow to the victim's head, and Polis appears to have a seizure. A man's voice tells the women to run because police are coming.

While a manager yelled for it to stop, other employees videotaped the attack (which went viral on YouTube), until a woman intervened. Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger put it well about this courageous person: "I would also like to acknowledge the brave actions of my constituent, who is a true hero. Vicky Thoms, a fellow Rosedale resident, intervened on the victim's behalf without regard for her own safety. While others stood by watching, Ms. Thoms put herself in harm's way to help a stranger. She is the definition of the word "neighbor," and I hope we can all learn from her example."

According to an article in the New York Daily News, "a LGBT advocacy group is calling for authorities to investigate the case as a hate crime."

On April 25th, hundreds of people rallied in front of the McDonald’s restaurant to show their support and solidarity. Read about that here. Change.org has a petition that McDonalds employees who saw the crime but did nothing be held responsible. Change.org did say: "Not surprisingly, McDonald's lacks standard policies for protecting transgender individuals, despite a decent record of workplace discrimination protections for gays and lesbians. And while the company has pledged to 'take appropriate action' against all employees involved in this heinous event, just one has been punished."

Baltimore County police arrested an 18-year-old woman in the assault, and she faces first- and second-degree assault charges, and is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $150,000 bail.

Let's hope all of this stirs Maryland legislators in the 2012 Session to do the right thing - to strengthen and widen the law to stop these hate crimes.

Ethnic Majority Website

Ethnic Majority is an interesting, informative web site. It has a variety of materials affecting ethnic and racial groups: breaking news, a jobs search database, a newsletter, & other stuff. It includes info on education, housing, media, business, politics, etc. Definitely worth visiting.

HUD Releases Worst Case Housing Needs of People with Disabilities

HUD just has released an update to its 2009 study, which has national estimates of the number of households that include people with disabilities who have worst case housing needs and their characteristics. It is a supplement to the Worst Case Housing Needs 2009: Report to Congress, released in February, 2011. The study is here.

The major findings of the study are:

• In 2009, approximately 1 million households that included nonelderly people with disabilities had worst case needs - 38% of all very low-income renter households with disabilities.
• Between 2007 and 2009, there was a 13% increase of worst case needs households that included people with disabilities.
• Renter households including people with disabilities are more likely to have very low incomes, experience worst case needs, pay more than one-half of their income for rent, and have other housing problems (e.g., living in inadequate or overcrowded housing).
• Nonelderly people with disabilities are more likely to be in renter households than among owner households, although most households that include nonelderly people with disabilities are owner occupied.

FCC Acts Against Race/Ethnic Discrimination in Advertising

On March 22nd, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) issued an ‘enforcement advisory’ that reminds broadcasters and advertisers that advertising contracts that contain ‘no urban/no Spanish’ clauses are illegal because they are discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity.

The so-called no-Spanish clause has meant approximately $200 million annual loss to those outlets. Read the FCC Press Release. Read the Hispanically Speaking News release.

HUD's Predatory Lending Info & Materials

The HUD website has some helpful information & materials about predatory lending here, but I will copy & paste them:

Protect yourself from predatory lenders: For information about loan fraud and advice about preventing it, see Don't Be A Victim of Loan Fraud.

Local information on predatory lending: Here are some Local Resources by state, that can help you avoid being a victim of predatory lending.

For FHA loans: For problems relating to origination, underwriting, or appraisals of FHA loans, contact the FHA Resource Center.

Avoiding foreclosure on an FHA loan: Visit the HUD National Servicing Center web page and have your FHA case number at hand. You will find your case number on the mortgage settlement statement.

Non-FHA mortgage loans: For complaints concerning practices which include disclosure of interest rates and finance charges (APR), prepayment penalties, credit life insurance, fraud, deception, etc. contact the appropriate agency from this list to complain about the mortgage lender or mortgage broker.

Lender threatening to foreclose or mortgage in default: HUD funds housing counseling agencies throughout the country. To find a housing counseling agency near you, call toll-free (800) 569-4287 immediately for free guidance or visit the web page.

Settlement Procedures: (FHA and non-FHA mortgages). Visit the RESPA web page for information on RESPA disclosure requirements such as the Good Faith Estimate, HUD-1 and escrow account statements, and how to file a complaint with your lender concerning the servicing of your loan.

If you are still unsure who can best help you, please let us know.

File a housing discrimination complaint: Discrimination in mortgage lending is prohibited by the federal Fair Housing Act and HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity actively enforces those provisions of the law. Learn how the Fair Housing Act can help you fight predatory lending.

HUD will concentrate on National Origin Housing Discrimination in April

HUD will concentrate on National Origin discrimination in April. As part of its Fair Housing Month activities, HUD announced on April 11th it will "launch an effort to better address national origin based housing discrimination." The effort will consist of a national media campaign and various community discussions on rental practices to mortgage lending.

The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in rental, sales or home lending transactions based on a person's national origin. This includes discrimination based on a person's ancestry, country of birth outside the United States, and the language they speak. National origin discrimination often involves immigrants or non-English speaking individuals, but can also involve native-born U. S. citizens based on their family ancestry. This type of discrimination may also occur in conjunction with the other protections of the Fair Housing Act against race, color, religion, gender, disability, and family status discrimination.

HUD's first Immigrant Housing Conference, which will underline Fair Housing rights and responsibilities, will be in Omaha, Nebraska, on April 14.

HUD's Cityscape Tackles Homelessness

The latest issue of Cityscape, distributed by HUD's Office of Policy Development & Research, examines homelessness and the organizations that help the homeless. This Cityscape provides a snapshot of homelessness in America and represents outstanding HUD-sponsored research.

Beginning with this issue, Cityscape will also have reactions to the Symposium articles from foreign scholars of like issues. Suzanne Fitzpatrick of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Julie Christian of the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom pointed to groundbreaking European analyses of housing and social inclusion.

Read the latest issue of Cityscape.